News
HAL 2.0
May 21, 2012
| Barry Real Estate's namesake and founder Hal Barry has been a titan on Atlanta skyline, responsible for notable metro developments such as Ivan Allen Plaza. But like many of Atlanta's real estate titans in the past, Hal has also found himself in tough times, losing 55 Allen Plaza to foreclosure last year. | ||
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| Since then, Barry Cos has become just Hal (he sold his third-party management business to Avison Young and former partner Chris Schoen is now with Greenstone Properties). So, when we got the opportunity, we asked Hal, what next? And his answer will give you a clue to Hal Barry version 2.0 (does it come with automatic update software?): ?Instead of build and sell… It's buy, fix, and sell.? He's seeking value-add office buys regionally. He declined to elaborate, but we'll keep you posted. | ||
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| Hal was part of a very prominent panel at last week's REIAC event at the Westin Buckhead, including Novare Group's Jim Borders, Georgia State University Department of Real Estate chair Julian Diaz, and Jacoby Development's Jim Jacoby. Jim Jacoby says his firm is working on a ?wellness facility? in Fla. for veterans. ?Redeveloping Marineland? into a healthcare facility is something I'm interested in,? he says. | ||
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| Borders, who is on a development tear with a second apartment tower announced in Atlanta, says that confidence in Atlanta due to the bad news during the Great Recession probably went a little too negative for the reality, a ?little bit too much of a loss of confidence,? he says. ?In real estate, when the capital dries up, the value erodes.? (Chicken Little moved in and started giving soapbox speeches.) | ||
